JPS leaders butted heads Thursday over a surprise decision by Tarrant County commissioners to lower the hospital’s tax rate.
JPS Health Network, the county’s public hospital system, usually gets about a third of its operating money from property taxes. The hospital’s tax rate is determined by county commissioners. Last week, after weeks of planning about a tax rate of 18.75 cents per $100 of validation, county commissioners surprised JPS by approving a new number that hadn’t previously been discussed: 18.25 cents .
The lower tax rate will cost JPS about $14.2 million in property tax revenue, and will save the average homeowner about $48 on their tax bill compared to last year.
At a hospital board meeting Thursday, board members outlined diverging visions for the future of the hospital district, with longtime board members worrying that declining property tax revenue will slow the hospital’s plans to complete its $2.1 billion construction program . The massive overhaul, which will include a new hospital and a new psychiatric emergency center, is being paid for by $800 million in bonds. The rest of the money will come from hospital cash, and will require the hospital to save $83.3 million every year for the next five years.
Board chair Roger Fisher pointed to the hospital’s promise to voters in 2018, when JPS pledged that the hospital district would not raise taxes to complete the bond program. The tax cuts put in place by commissioners court, he said, could make the hospital’s aggressive saving plan difficult to achieve in the coming years, he said.
“I understand that the politics of the situation might be different, but we don’t get to change the promise, and we don’t want to change the pledge,” he said.
JPS board members Tim Davis and Blake Woodard, both appointed by County Judge Tim O’Hare , questioned whether the tax cut would have a significant impact on the hospital’s long-term operations.
“Had the court released 18.25 (cents) in August instead of September, I don’t think we would be having the indigestion we’re having today,” Woodard said. “I was expecting that rate or something close to it.”
Woodard added that his “long-term goal is a tax rate of zero.”
Almost all public hospitals in Texas are supported by property taxes. In fiscal years 2022 and 2023, property taxes paid for about 34% of the county hospital’s operations . As Tarrant County’s public hospital system, JPS Health Network is responsible for caring for the majority of the county’s uninsured adult patients. Texas has more uninsured residents than any other state in the nation. About one in every five Tarrant County adults under the age of 65 does not have health insurance, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. JPS also operates one of two emergency rooms in the county that are capable of handling the most serious trauma cases.
After commissioners surprised JPS leaders with a lower tax rate, JPS staff decided not to make any changes to the planned 2025 operating budget of $1.65 billion. Instead, the hospital expects to have a net income of $14.2 million less than what it had expected. The hospital’s net income for 2025 is projected to be $138.5 million about half of what the hospital will net this year, according to hospital financial statements.
The Star-Telegram reached out to all county commissioners who voted for the reduced tax rate to ask why the tax rate was lowered, and why the reduced rate wasn’t previously communicated to hospital staff. None of the four commissioners who voted for the rate — O’Hare, Commissioner Roy Brooks, Commissioner Gary Fickes, and Commissioner Manny Ramirez — immediately responded to the Star-Telegram’s phone calls and emails asking for comment. The Star-Telegram will update this story if they respond.
The hospital’s fiscal year begins Tuesday.
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